We've got your back. With the Tough-O-Meter, you'll know whether to bring extra layers or Swiss army knives as you summit the literary mountain. (10 = Toughest)
(2) Sea Level
The plot of Bert Breen's Barn is very straightforward: boy meets barn, boy wants barn, boy works hard to get that barn.
Oddly enough, the simplicity is actually one of the things that might make the book a little tough for current readers who are used to faster pacing. It can seem like a bit of slog at times, but that's part of the point of the book: reaching a goal can be a long process.
Since it's a historical novel, the book also has some now-outdated vocab like "vamoose" and "truckle" (both of which are pretty fun to say), and it's chock-full of technical-sounding construction and farm-life terms like stanchion, sill, girder, and joist. Still, it's pretty easy to get the gist even if you don't know exactly what all the terms mean, and there are some handy barn diagrams at the beginning to help us visualize.
Besides, if you ever want to build your own barn, this book will give you a jump on the lingo.